Fire and Ice
by Dozey212
Summary: One-Shot. Max and Fang go for a walk. Max is being difficult. Fangs words are taken the wrong way. Faxness.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. Well, maybe I own the craziness of this. Okay, okay, the craziness is all me but I don't own anything else.

**Fire and Ice:**

I followed Fang deeper and deeper into the forest – away from my Flock. It made me edgy not to be near them. Who knew what would come and get them while I was gone? I was starting to say we had gone far enough when Fang stopped and sat on a fallen tree trunk. I sat down beside him, leaning against the trunk of a standing tree. Minutes passed in silence. "So," he finally said.

"So?" I repeated. "Is that all you have to say after dragging me out here?"

"Yeah," he shrugged. I hit his shoulder and we both laughed. "Well . . ."

"Well?" I prompted.

He turned and looked at me. He was silent before saying, "What was Sam like?"

"_What?"_ I gaped at him. Sam was the guy I had gone on a date with once back in Virginia. The one who I'm still not sure didn't betray us. I hadn't thought of him since . . . forever. I wasn't going to tell Fang that though. I also wasn't going to tell him that I was thinking about _him_ not Sam.

I think my eyes might have been playing tricks on me because I swear I saw Fang blush. But he couldn't've. Fang _never_ blushed. He shrugged and looked at the trees opposite us. "What was he like?"

"_Why?"_

"Just wondering," Fang mumbled. I could see him turning back into his usual untalkative self. Oh, and I also swear I saw him go invisible around the edges. Like he wanted to melt through the tree trunk we were sitting on – he was that embarrassed.

I raised an eyebrow at him and he grimaced. "Oh, and I'm just wondering _why_."

"Max . . ." his voice trailed off as I stared at him blankly. "Why?" he finally asked.

"What? I'm the one asking why –"

"No," he shook his head, smiling slightly. "I was wondering _why_. Why him? What did he have that I –" he cut him self off and looked at the ground.

I gaped at him. Was he _really_ going to say what I think he was going to say? What did Sam have that he didn't have? "That you what?"

He really _did_ blush this time. "That I didn't have," he mumbled so quietly that I wasn't even sure he said it. I mean, wow, we have enhanced hearing and I still couldn't hear him. Talk about quiet. Yeesh. "Don't have," he added even more quietly. He sounded sad. But that can't be right – Fang didn't _do_ sad. He does indifferent. Not the Fang I was used to, anyway.

Well, I guess this wasn't the Fang I was used to.

The Fang I was used to didn't _blush_ or ask me what I saw in my onetime boyfriend or sound _sad_.

The Fang I was used to didn't keep trying to kiss me, either.

The Fang I was used to was practically my brother.

_Was?_ I thought. _Was practically my brother?_ _Is practically my brother, I mean. Oh, jeez. _I realised it then. Things between Fang and I had been changing. _Things_ in general were changing. I mean, a year ago we weren't hiding in some forest, on the run, expecting trouble behind every tree. Last year we were living in the E house and everything was fine.

Fang was still looking at me, face unreadable.

Somehow, my mind drifted back to the Red Haired Wonder. I know, I know, I shouldn't be thinking of _her_ at a time like _this_ but . . . I was. Even if I didn't mean to. I felt a stab of pain as I remembered seeing Fang with her – kissing.

If Fang was practically my brother, I wouldn't – shouldn't – feel like that. Should I?

_Maybe,_ a part of me whispered. _Maybe Fang isn't like your brother anymore . . . Maybe he's something more. _

But that's ridiculous.

Wasn't it?

"Max?" Fang asked, sounding worried and snapping me out of my tumbling thoughts. The thoughts that were questioning my feelings for him. "Are you okay? You're a bit . . ."

"Why'd you kiss her?" I asked urgently.

"What? Who?"

"The Red Haired Wonder," I said. Fang raised an eyebrow and I realised he wouldn't know I called her that. "Um, I mean Lisa."

He looked down, like he was ashamed of it or something. But then he looked up at me and said, "Because I wanted too."

Well, okay, I wasn't expecting _that_. I also wasn't expecting the way his words made it feel like someone had dumped me in a Max-sized esky full of ice. The way his words feel like my heart had broke in half.

Definitely not the way a sister would feel.

Maybe more like how someone who _liked_ liked him would feel. Okay, okay, I'll say it . . . someone who _loved_ him would feel.

I know, I know. I realised it then. You might be kicking me. I know _I_ was kicking me. I just had to realise then why my brother-sister feelings for Fang had faded. That I loved him. Just when he told me he had kissed someone else because he had wanted to.

I looked away from him and tried to blink back the sharpness in my eyes. I wouldn't _cry_ in front of him. I mean, just before I hadn't known I loved him, but I didn't want him to know that I loved him if he still liked the Red Haired Wonder.

Despite my efforts, though, a red-hot tear escaped my eyelids. I was mortified. Maybe he wouldn't notice it. Maybe I should wipe it away before he did notice it. Maybe he would notice it if I wiped it away. I couldn't decide so I let it run down my cheek, surprised that how my body felt like it had been thrown into an ice filled esky and yet this tear felt like it was made of fire.

The fire melted the ice. As soon as the tear spilled from my eye, I felt everything again. I wasn't numb anymore.

So I turned to Fang, forgetting for the moment that I was crying and said, "Oh. Okay then." I stood up to head back to my Flock – something seriously could have happened to them, but Fang grabbed hold of my wrist.

"Max, wait, I didn't mean –" he started to say.

"No, it's okay. I have to get back," I told him, trying not to let another tear escape from my eyes. I tried to yank my hand from his grip.

"Max!" he sounded appalled. "Don't cry!" He tugged my roughly back down so I was sitting on the old rotten tree trunk again. He looked at me with wide eyes. "Max," he said and I couldn't help it – I couldn't hold the tears back anymore.

Can I tell you I hate crying? Hate it with a passion. And there's nothing I wouldn't've done to stop crying right then. But, I'm ashamed to say, when Fang pulled me against his chest, I balled my eyes out. Majorly.

I realised that I had changed, too. We had both changed. Everything had changed.

"Don't cry, Max," he whispered as he tightened his arms around me. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry," I said once I'd stopped those horrifying tears. I tried to pull free but he just tightened his arms around me. I mean, dang it, I'm strong but he is too. And he was using all his strength holding me there. Jerk. "Let me go," I mumbled into his shirt. Why would he want me here? Didn't he want the Red Haired Wonder?

"Promise not to leave? Not to run away?" he asked.

"No," I snapped.

He sighed. He released me but still held onto my wrist. I glared down at his hand, since I couldn't look him in the face. "Max, I _wanted_ to. I don't want to now. I don't know why, she was just so." I tried to tug my arm free. I didn't want to listen to him go on about Lisa. "I dunno, Max."

"Well, that's nice," I snapped, acting angry to hide my hurt. I pulled my arm free and jumped up. I saw Fang make a grab for me but it was too late. I was already running through the forest, crashing noisily back to my Flock.

"Wait," Fag yelled as he crashed after me. I didn't stop. Suddenly, though, strong arms grabbed me around my waist and I hit at them, trying to break free. "Don't go, Max."

"I don't want to listen about _her_, Fang," I said. "Let me go, you, you, you," I couldn't find the right word. Bastard? Maybe.

"Max, stop squirming. Let me finish," he pleaded.

Well, since when do I do what I am told? Yeah, I know, right. I kept squirming.

"Fine," Fang sighed. "I see you won't listen so I'll have to tell you quickly." I kept squirming, trying to resist the temptation to _make_ him let me go. As in resisting the temptation to punch him in the face. I also tried to beat back the little bubble of hope rising in me.

Fang took a deep breath and snapped, "Quit squirming, moron!"

I was so surprised I stopped trying to break free. "I am not –" I started to say but Fang spun around so I was facing him. His face was so close to mine I could smell his breath. Surprisingly, even though we didn't brush our teeth too often, his breath didn't reek. It smelt nice. His eyes bore into mine as he leant in and . . . I kneed him where it hurts.

"Oof!" he exhaled. I wriggled around, trying to break free of his grip but couldn't. "Max, stop, please." Yeah, right. As if.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"I wanted to tell you that I love you, but your being difficult. I wanted to find out what you saw in Sam, and see if there's any chance you'll see it in me because I want you and –"

"_What!"_

Fang sighed and I didn't resist as he pulled me against him. He rested his chin on top of my head and his hand traced the outline of my wings – the perfect massage for a bird kid. "I love you, Max."

"But –"

"I know, Max," he said softly. "She's in the past. Yes, I _did_ like her but . . . I dunno. Whenever I was with her I thought of you, and imagined kissing you, and then that moron Sam took you out and kissed you on the porch and I realised I would've done anything to be the one kissing you on the porch. I broke things off with her the next day, you know?"

"No, I didn't know."

I felt him chuckle. "I know." He pulled back and looked me in the eye. Suddenly, I felt warm all over. Like the numbness from the ice before and the burning from the fire were mixed together to make an indescribable warm sensation. He leant forward so I could smell his breath, like before. I could see his eyelashes and the way his eyes shone. He hesitated, not going any further, waiting, I guess, for me to approve. Unlike the least, what, three times?

So I leant in, closing the distance between us and placed my lips of his. He froze for a moment. But he recovered quickly, like I knew he would. Pretty soon, one of my hands was behind his neck, pulling him closer, the other so tangled in his hair I had no idea how it was going to come out again. We might need some scissors to free it, actually. Not that I cared at that moment, though. One hand of his was on my lower back, the other between my wings on my shoulder blades.

Well, I can honestly tell you that I had never been kissed like _that_ before. I can honestly say I have no idea how long it went on for. A long time, I'm pretty sure. Other then that I know nothing, though. Oh, and I can also tell you that Fang is a _very_ good kisser.

Well, I have mucho de stamina, but when we finally pulled away, I was puffing hard. So was Fang. "I love you," I wheezed. It seemed important to tell him, even if I couldn't talk properly right then.

"What?" he whispered back.

"I love you," I said, looking him in the eye. He beamed. Yes, I know! He _beamed_.

"Oh, I know."

"Really?" I said. I pecked his lips once. I raised an eyebrow. "Did you now?"

"You just didn't know it," he said, leaning forwards again.

"I know everything," I protested. I felt him chuckle and I couldn't help but grin as that combined feeling of fire and ice spread through my body again as he kissed me.

**Review if you want to comment on the craziness!**

**Dozey212. **


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